Forces in Biology

27-28 March 2014Pollock Halls, University of EdinburghWorkshop Chairs: Mark Leake, York University; Wilson Poon, University of Edinburgh; and Simon Foster, University of Sheffield.

This meeting is the second in a series of Focussed Workshops that will explore themes that were identified during intensive discussion at the Network’s three plenary conference events. Each theme presents significant challenges for understanding biology across the length scales.

In this Workshop we will focus on the specific challenges presented by aspects of bacterial infection. These include questions spanning molecular to cellular scales, and involve all bacterial processes utilised in normal cell viability, including signal sensing and transduction, cell motility, DNA replication and repair, cell growth/division, and cellular homeostasis, in addition to specific processes relating to bacterial pathogens and basic research into the mechanism of antibacterial agents. The meeting will include a series of short talks from leading biologists and biophysicists to “set the scene” for intensive discussion into developing novel and exciting lines of interfacial research in this area.

Purpose

Our Focussed Workshop will provide a mechanism to nucleate new collaborative partnerships that will lead to outstanding science and the award of grants by research councils. Discussion sessions will be a very important element of the event, and it is hoped that all attendees will come ready to engage fully in that element of the programme. Our aim by the close of the meeting is to have seeded potential new collaborations and novel lines of cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in this area.

Who should attend?

We invite participation by academic staff as well as early and mid-career research fellows from physical and life science departments in the UK who are interested in the central goal of generating new collaborative research interactions at the physical/life sciences interface focussed on challenging questions pertaining to bacterial infection. It is anticipated that this will include significant input from the microbiology and biophysics communities in particular. We are also keen to encourage participation by clinicians and industrial scientists, to foster the development of relationships with end-users of the research. The main business of these meetings will be to provide opportunities for researchers to talk and interact through, for example, brief flash presentations, speed-dating exercises, poster presentations, facilitated discussions and other activities.